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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29882931">Can't Be Better</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamOnToast/pseuds/JamOnToast'>JamOnToast</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>pedro pascal character fics [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Wonder Woman - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, M/M, Other, gender neutral reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 03:20:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>817</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29882931</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamOnToast/pseuds/JamOnToast</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Max grants your wish, just not in the way either of you expected.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Maxwell Lord/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>pedro pascal character fics [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2197095</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Can't Be Better</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>also posted on my tumblr @pumpkin-stars</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Maxwell Lord is… special. He doesn’t see it all the time, thinks he’s less than he is because he’s not successful, thinks he needs more than what he has. He doesn’t know how lucky he is some days… He has Alastair, a son who loves him more than anything, will continue to love him no matter what…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He has everything, but thinks it’s nothing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>You know, of course, about the stone. The wishes he’s granting people, trying to build Black Gold up into the most successful company he can, hoping to make the world - and his lot - better for his son.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He’s asking everyone he can - what do they want most? What wish can he grant them? ‘Cause life is good… but it can be better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anything you want!” He grins at you one day. It’s far from the first time he’s asked you. You’re just his son’s nanny, there’s nothing you could offer him in return for your deepest desire, there’s… there’s only one thing you want that he could provide, but you know the consequences. Max takes something from you in exchange for your wish, or you lose something precious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And your </span>
  <em>
    <span>one thing</span>
  </em>
  <span> isn’t worth that. It wouldn’t work, anyway. To get your wish you’d have to keep what you have. Because your wish isn’t for something new, or some random advantage.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want anything, Max.” You tell him, turning to fix two lunches - one for him to take to work, the other for Alastair to take to school. You miss how the smile falls from his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The day is difficult. February 14th… Happy couples everywhere, love heart decorations and aisles of chocolate and teddy bears overtake the store. You just came to stock up - milk, cheese, vegetables, bread - the standard shopping list for a single person who happens to live with a father and son who eat their weight in mac n cheese each week.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The couple making out in front of the freezer containing Alastair’s favourite ice cream is enough to make your heart sink. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>wish</span>
  </em>
  <span> to have something like that is overwhelming, an ache in your chest that’s hard to ignore, and even harder when the cashier asks “does your partner have anything nice planned” for you tonight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just a quiet night in, I think.” You smile, tense, and lug the shopping back to Max’s ridiculously large mansion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anything you want?” Max asks after dinner, staring at you from the opposite end of the couch. There’s something in his eyes that makes you sure he’s not going to drop the subject tonight… and that ache in your chest makes it all to easy to admit:</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just…” You start, biting your lip.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He inches closer, “What, baby?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The nickname makes you falter, “Max…” You can’t look at him. “I wish I had someone who loves me. Truly.” You shake your head, laughing at how lovesick and ridiculous you sound, “Unequivocally and irrevocably and just… completely.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He laughs. It’s loud and seems obnoxious, and makes you want to curl up into a ball and </span>
  <em>
    <span>wish</span>
  </em>
  <span> you’d never said anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s stupid.” You stand. “Goodnight, Max.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait!” He lunges forward, grabbing your wrist. He stands before you, the only place you can move is back to the couch unless you push him out of the way, and you really don’t want to lose this job because of some stupid embarrassment-fuelled aggression. “I can’t grant that wish.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine, Max.” You try to shrug off his grip, but he holds firm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His other hand comes to rest at your cheek and you frown, confused. “The wish isn’t stupid, pareja. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m</span>
  </em>
  <span> stupid. I should have made it clearer.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you saying, Max?” This tender touch… it’s happened before, there are times when the two of you are alone, away from prying eyes and the stresses of his job, when he lets himself relax, when his hands brush against yours as you do put away the dishes, when he touches your shoulder or the small of your back as he thanks you for looking after his son… A soft touch that makes you think there’s something there, or that there could be - if only you both wished it… A silly crush on your boss, a love that he can’t see when he’s absorbed with the </span>
  <em>
    <span>wish</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be enough…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You want to be loved? Completely and truly?” He smiles, “You already are.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Max-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He leans closer, whispers three words so quietly you aren’t even sure he said them. And then his lips are on yours and you </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> that he did. That Max </span>
  <em>
    <span>has</span>
  </em>
  <span> granted your wish tonight, but not by using the stone. Nothing’s changed, he hasn’t taken anything from you in exchange, he hasn’t had to. You made a wish for that </span>
  <em>
    <span>one thing</span>
  </em>
  <span> and, just as you thought, it didn’t work.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Max can’t grant wishes that are already true.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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